As a result of their conviction and created time to look into their past failure, felons might have a strong faith in a religion.
This might lead them to have loved to pick a career in the religious sector after their incarceration in prison.
For most of these individuals, it means becoming a pastor after incarceration. After all, felons must look for jobs after living prison for them to reintegrate properly into society and live a normal life.
Having a better education to improve their standard of living after incarceration is needed also for felons.
In this article, we are going to address whether a felon can become a pastor.
- Meaning of a Pastor
- What Education or Training is needed by a Pastor?
- How much does a Pastor is being Paid
- Felons opportunity
- Action to be taken
A pastor (sometimes called a minister of God) is an individual who has been ordained a pastor to spread and preach the gospel of God to people in the church, home cell fellowship, or a Christian group/organization.
He or she serves people, ministers to them, and shows them the right path to eternal life through Christ Jesus to God.
The work of a Pastor is teaching and preaching to people about is religion, showing the right path and how to worship God, and giving spiritual care and prayers.
What are the duties of a Pastor?
- Preaching the word of God
- Praying for people who need it
- Baptizing faithful
- Conducting marriage ceremonies
- Visiting and praying for the sick
- Attending burier ceremonies to pray for the deceased
- Offering counseling to people
- Conducting child naming
There are numerous qualities needed by a pastor, including:
- Integrity
- Efficient communication
- Good service planning
- Zeal to serve God
- Compassion
- Empathy
- Good and calm temper
- Right judgment
- Time management ability
- Good decision-making ability
- Self-control ability
- Intellectual and educated to some levels
- In-depth theological knowledge
- Flexibility
What education or training is needed by a pastor?
For you to be ordained a pastor in most religious denominations you must have some level of education before they will ordain you a pastor.
Some denomination needs a minimum of a first degree in any field of study, while some will need master or first degree in theology or pass through seminary.
Seminary or theology degree programs can include courses in:
- History
- Ethics
- Philosophy
- Theology
Some denominations also have courses in
- Analysis and scripture
- Marriage life
- Business ethic
- Family life
- Relationship between God and man
The last procedure in becoming an ordained pastor is to undergo training in supervised ministry.
The selection of pastors in some denominations is through the commitment and zealousness of the person toward God and the local assembly he or she attends.
An ordained and licensed pastor is allowed to perform major activities in the church such as service/mass, marriage, and all other duties of any authorized pastor.
The age gap to become a pastor in most denominations is between 18 years to 35 years.
How much a pastor is being paid?
Records show in the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics, that we have a total in all if not more, about 50,790 registered and recorded pastors in the United States of America.
The median take-home salary for a pastor was $49,720 in 2021. The median pay is that level by which half of them receive high and half receive less.
Some of the criteria that make some pastors earn higher than others are experience and location, these make some denominations differentiate in the salaries of pastors.
Those pastors serving on the East or West Coast may be paid more than a pastor serving in other parts, but this fact is not realistic.
The need for pastors has risen presently with an estimated growth rate of 2% between 2021 and 2023.
But now the growth rate has increased to over 4% because of a lack of jobs and the zeal for felons to turn a new leave by becoming a pastor.
A chance for felons
A criminal record does not deprive any applicant from the ministry. Each denomination has its own requirements related to people with criminal records.
All is based on the breaking of churches to form different denominations and states.
It is ideal that any felon sees a vocation director for the particular denomination that he or she wants to become a pastor and be truthful, in case background checks will be conducted.
It is better to state your offense before it is discovered on its own.
A felon seeking to become a pastor must present this evidence:
- Good moral character
- Love for God
- Personal balance
- Right Motivation
Qualities of a pastor include:
- Humane
- Spiritual
- Moral
- Intellectual
- Psychological
One vital rightful risk for modern churches of several denominations is called negligent picking or selection.
This is wrong to make use of reasonable picking of pastoral applicants or other church workers getting regular contact with members of the congregation, especially younger ones.
Longer questions on an application form and a lot of formal background checks are used to provide and deal with this issue.
However, all successful applicants must pass through rigorous screening procedures, which include:
- Personal one-on-one interview with the applicant
- Good evaluations are taken from pastors and teachers
- Nice evaluation from any former seminary
- Academic records must be consider
- Standardize test scores must be taken
- A psychological evaluation will be conducted
Also, convicted background checks are noted coupled with the assessment of the applicant’s motivation.
Those who fail all these entry requirements of the seminary or bible school will not be admitted.
A thorough psychological check is often an important area of the admission process.
In order to achieve their dream to become a pastor, it is vital for all felons who want to become a pastor to be honest and truthful about their past history.
Very important to note, it is pertinent to be truthful in filling out any licensing application form.
If an ex-convict hides or lies and it is discovered while running background checks, it is considered a fraud which is treated as a crime.
This will call for a lawyer and could result in their being thrown back into jail.
Though, most ex-convicts are already in a state of performing negative attitudes by being dishonest, untruthful, untrustworthy, and unwilling or unable to obey and follow instructions from authority.
However, with their past history gone can provide them the privilege to start with a clean slate of becoming a pastor.
Getting rid of a criminal history allows any body to truthfully state on an application form or documents that he or she has not been in prison for a crime before.
Recommended Decision
It is challenging, but it may be for any felon who wants to pursuit a career as a pastor.
Providing him or her the right opportunity to succeed by getting rid of his past and penciling out all training schedules or added education will make the difference.
Getting assistance from family, friends, colleagues, or religious leaders can make a remarkable difference.
An ex-convict need not be addressed by his or her past crime, so we are not judged by our mistakes but by how we regain and stay away from our past record.
He or she can take a new leave to live above the past and live an honest and sincere life no matter how worrisome it will be.
Summary
Can a felon become a pastor? Yes! Because every individual can turn a new leave no matter what crime he or she committed in the past.
Read more in our article and see how he or she can succeed in becoming a pastor only by first doing the right thing, which is to be truthful and honest, everything will fall in place if these two things are considered
What did you think about this article? Have you or someone you knew that wants to pick a career as a pastor but his or her past records are eating them up? What decision did the person take to succeed? Please kindly inform us in the comment section below.